The X Crisis
by Raizen Yusuke
Summary: The mutant terrorist Magneto and his followers, the Acolytes, attack a military base and steal nuclear missiles from the U.S. government. As a result human and mutant hostilities have increased. A war between U.S. and Genosha is threatening to rise. In order to avoid a war the president calls the Avengers and X-Men to capture Magneto.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is set after the final episode of Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes. It is set after a week after it. Avengers saved the world from Galactus, but the world keeps spinning. It's back to business as usual. The world just can't stay out of danger.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or the X-Men. All the characters belong to Marvel.**

* * *

It looked like they were in for another boring night. When he enlisted in the army he expected to go overseas, see the world, defend his country from enemies of freedom, make his family proud, and all that jazz. Instead he was a glorified security guard at a military base. All that training to be the best of the best and he was standing guard on his home soil, in one of the most fortified bases in the country. Frankly anyone who tried to break into the base was an idiot. Unfortunately there weren't a lot of idiots around.

"This is so boring," he groaned. He heard his partner snort. His partner was middle-aged and started graying early, tainting his dark brown hair. He was blessed with large physique with muscle hard enough to make coins bounce off of them. He wore the uniform pretty damn good.

"Will you shut up about being bored already, Gordon," he groaned. Kids were the worst. They always think being in the army is just like the movies. They wanted to chase terrorists, foil villains' plots, and hook up with exotic women. In all his years of service that was one constant he found in kids. The minute they saw real action they nearly soiled themselves on the spot. Gordon was no different. He was another hot shot kid who thought he was the protagonist in an action movie.

Gordon was a short kid who stuck out his chest and proudly showed off the stubble on his face. He had short chestnut hair. Thanks to his training his small structure was accented by muscles.

"Come on, old man. You can't tell me you find this assignment exciting." Gordon shuddered as if he described some dreadfully disgusting task.

He rolled eyes at his young partner's immature antics. "It doesn't matter if you find this assignment exciting. We have our duties and right now that is to stand guard at this base. In case you haven't figured that out yet kid that means we suck it up and do our duty."

Gordon let out an overly loud and overly annoying yawn. God he wanted to strangle this kid sometimes. "I'm sorry did you say something, Vic? I couldn't hear you over all this," he waved his arm across the empty room. "So much is just going on."

"Newsflash kid just because you aren't getting shot at doesn't make this job any less important. You should know this," Vic lectured.

Gordon wasn't in the mood to listen to another drawn out and droll lecture. "Ok, ok, I get it, Vic. Guarding this base is important too. It's just when I signed up I was hoping for something with a little more action. We could use a little more excitement to liven things up down here. I wish someone would try to break in here."

A blaring sound echoed throughout the room splitting eardrums throughout the base. The two men readied their rifles at the entrance. "Looks like you'll get your wish, kid."

"I guess I did," Gordon added with a smirk. There was only one way into the main facility and that was through them. They were guaranteed some action. He was itching for action. The pattering of footsteps could be heard. Gordon thought he would really have to thank the idiot or idiots who pulled this stunt. He hoped it was idiots as in plural. The doors were pushed open he found himself disappointed.

A single man walked out. Sure he was enormous. In fact he was sure this guy could put some football players to shame with his bulk, but he wearing a ridiculous getup. Who wore red and yellow spandex with matching wrist bands? Generally the guy looked clueless. He had a farm boy aura to him that offset his huge size. The kicker was he was unarmed! So much for killing boredom he thought.

"Stop!" ordered Vic. The towering farm boy didn't stop of course. "I said stop!" This time the man obeyed. "Good. Now get on the ground." The man didn't comply with this request. "I won't repeat myself again," Vic warned.

The man spoke, "I am sorry, but it is you who should get on the ground."

Gordon had to stifle back a laugh. "Look guy I know you tower over us and have muscles to spare, but think about this for a moment. You break into a military base unarmed. You aren't in any position to be giving out demands."

"Please just get down on the ground," the man pleaded.

The two guards exchanged baffled looks. "We're not playing around here. Get down on the ground now!" The intruder sighed and started to walk forward. "Get down!" Vic continued. The man kept walking toward them. He tried again, but the man refused to heed him. With no options left they had no choice Vic opened fire. He expected the man to go down after getting shot in the shoulder, but that's not what happened. He saw flesh turn into metal. The bullet bounced right off the intruder's newly metalized shoulder. "What the hell?"

"We've got a code blue!" Gordon shouted. He and Vic shot at the metal man. Bullets had no effect. They bounce off him harmlessly. The metal man yanked their rifles out of their hands.

"I am truly sorry for this, but you left me with no choice." The metal man effortlessly lifted up both men. Their fear was palpable he didn't let it get to him. He threw both of them against the wall roughly. The impact had knocked both of them unconscious. "You really should have taken me up on my offer," he said.

The military base found itself under siege. Chaos had reined. Soldiers were in frenzy. Their invaders struck without warning. The enemy kept them divided and off balance. A group of soldiers rushed to the corridor only to be engulfed in flames. Their screams were music to their cackling flame throwing man. He wouldn't stop until his heart found content with burning every last soldier he set eyes on.

In another corridor the soldiers were stalked by something they couldn't even describe. It was reptilian in nature. It pounced and dragged soldiers down and pulled them off into the shadows where they could only hear blood churning screams. It wasn't the only animal to hunt them down. A savage animal that was more primal than man slashed anything he could get his razor sharp claws in, throats, stomachs, whatever he could touch he was fine. Within minutes the entire military facility was on its knees. Its occupants were either wounded or dead, except for the last line of defense. They made chose to make their final stand right outside of the bunker where the missiles stationed.

"What do we do, colonel?"

"We make our final stand here. They won't even set a foot in here!"

"Yes sir!" they hollered in unison. Each of them raised their rifles. If they went down they would go down fighting. Fingers went to the triggers not wanting to give these monsters a chance to fight back. Suddenly every gun in the room was ripped out of their hands by an invisible force. Rifles floated in the air out of reach. The soldiers were puzzled and fearful at what was going on before their eyes.

"In my experience men with guns tend to make very poor decisions. I can't have that now." Two men came into view. One man dressed in form fitting red that revealed his slim yet muscular form. He wore a red helmet and a long elegant royal purple cape. The most unusual trait was the fact that he was levitating a few feet of the ground. The second man dressed in black form fitting material. He too wore a cape, except his red. His chest two red large strips run down from his shoulders until the connected, giving it a V shape. He wore red gloves and red boots. On top of his head rested a gold ring. He had long brown hair that was tied into a ponytail.

"It's really him!" cried a soldier.

"Magneto," the colonel said under his breath.

Magneto floated closer to the colonel. "If you would be so kind as to step aside I will be on my way and you can go unharmed." Predictably the soldiers remained stationed where they were.

"Forget it, Magneto. We won't step aside for you. We knew the risk when we enlisted. We won't back down from any terrorist, not even the mutant ones."

The second man was outraged at the colonel's act of defiance. "How dare you speak to the Great Magneto with such insolence you under developed homo-sapien! He offers you mercy and you spit in his face." Before his tirade could continue he was stopped.

"That is enough, Cortez." The master of magnetism groaned. "Then we shall do this the hard way." The mutant super villain willed the metal doors of their hinges. The soldiers were left in horror induced awe. The mere gesture of his left hand several missiles came rushing toward him before he stopped them in midair. "You see, Cortez. We have what we came for. There was nothing they could do to stop us. We should try to avoid violence when we can."

"As always your wisdom speaks true, Great Magneto." Cortez bowed before his master. The colonel charged at them, but Cortez tackled the colonel before he could reach Magneto. He started to punch the colonel with unrestrained fury. "How dare you try to touch the great one with your primitive hands! Human filth! Learn your place!" He continued to attack until the colonel lost consciousness.

The soldiers rushed to their colonel's side. Before they could reach Cortez their own rifles were pointed at them. Quickly they were glued to their places.

"That is enough," Magneto commanded. "I've stomached your stupidity enough for one night," he told soldiers. Why did they always test him? Did they not realize how foolish it was for sheep to challenge a wolf? They tested his patience.

"Do you see how ungrateful they are, master? You spared their lives and they continue to oppose you, to fight you. It is within their nature to cause conflict." He didn't need Cortez to tell him that. He had witnessed more than his fair share of human atrocities. They were cruel and more vicious than any beast. Beasts killed for a reason hunger or survival. Humans killed for pettiest of reasons. "If we leave them alive they will think we're weak." Those words rang more true than he would ever have liked to believe. Every time he tried to show them mercy, every time he tried Charles' way he always regretted it. That was how he lost his beautiful Magda to those bastards he had spared long ago. He had done so at her insistence and all it did was ensure her death. His beautiful Magda was stolen from him. Her kindness was rewarded with brutality. Why would this time be any different? "If we are to survive we must fight fire with fire. We must be just as ruthless, master." His mind was made.

The rifles were all cocked. The soldiers were startled. Cortez looked on with glee. "I've been at the mercy of humans my whole life. If there is one thing that I've learned is that they have no mercy. I will not be merciful either." With a gesture the refiles fired. The room was filled with the men's screams. Magneto was unfazed and unmoved by the terror induced screams. Kindess would be rewarded with cruelty. He couldn't afford to be kind. He hardened his heart. He became cold. The lifeless bodies littered the room and felt nothing, because he had to feel nothing.

"Well done, my master," Cortez praised. He didn't bother trying to contain his visible delight at the sight of dead men before him.

"It is as you say, Cortez. We cannot afford to be merciful in this war. That is why we need these as insurance," his gaze went to the missiles, "Have the Acolytes regroup as soon as they deal with the rest of soldiers. We don't need the military on our heels yet."

"My liege in order to ensure our escape and no military retaliation this soon it would be better for us to eliminate everyone in the facility."

Cortez's blood lust was troublesome. He never shied away from killing before, but it was with purpose. Cortez seemed willing to issue death for the slightest of reasons. Killing without purpose was beneath them. Did Cortez have a point in this instance? Magneto was feeling his age more and more recently. Now was not the time for mercy. War was coming. Mercy in war would be taken advantage of. He needed to remain hard if he was to avoid another holocaust. He couldn't follow Charles' path. That would doom them all. "Do as you wish, just make sure no one follows." The mutant super villain rose to the air along with his new weapons. He ripped open a hole large enough for him and the missiles with his magnetism to exit.

"Cortez to all Acolytes; eliminate everyone here." His lips curled into an ominous smirk. "Burn this place to the ground." They would burn everything to the ground. That would teach the inferior primitives there place. The age of man was over. It was time for the mutants to rise and take their rightful place as rulers of the world.

* * *

Today was going to be a bad day. Clint could tell that as soon as he got out of bed. He just had a feeling. Natasha said it was intuition, but he preferred to call it his gut. It never let him down before. It hadn't let him down that morning either. Every news channel was covering a mutant terrorist attack on military facility. Unsurprisingly the mastermind behind the whole thing was public mutant enemy number one, Magneto. He and his minions trashed a facility and killed every soldier serving there. Also unsurprisingly people were in an uproar. In his old days with Shield this headache would not concern him in the slightest.

Shield didn't get tangled in the mutant affairs directly. According to Fury that was all politics. It was one of the few things Clint agreed with his old boss on. They steered clear of the Mutant Registration business. They let the politicians needing a cause to win votes make their Mutant Response Divisions deal with the mutant debate. They only got involved if mutant was an agent of Hydra or trying to blow up the world. They certainly didn't play clean up to every mutant attack or incident. But that was the good old days with Shield. The Avenges didn't agree with Shield's mutant policy or non-policy. He was on the Quinjet piloted by the Avengers fearless leader, Captain America and synthezoid, the Vision. The three of them were on route to Washington D.C. sticking their noses in something they shouldn't get involved in. As usual he was the only voice of reason.

"Do you mind explaining to me why we're going to D.C. again, old man?" He swore he saw the captain roll his eyes. Even Captain America couldn't hide when he got annoyed all the time. He was counting this a minor victory.

"You know why we're going, Clint. The president asked us there personally," the captain replied. "He wants our help in dealing with fallout of the attack."

"I guess the better question is why did the president call us in?" Hawkeye retorted. "They know Magneto did it, so why not leave it to their little M.R.D.s to handle him?"

"I do not understand your reluctance, Hawkeye," Vision said. "Is it not the Avengers duty to serve the people and protect them?"

Serve and protect, Vision was officially spending too much time with Cap. He had to get the synthezoid away from the old man for an evening and get him out to socialize. He didn't want the poor android to start calling everyone soldier.

A small smile graced Steve's lips. "Yes, Vision. That is exactly what the Avengers do." He was glad to see Vision asking more questions. He took it as a sign that he was going beyond the unfeeling automaton, which only followed orders. If he asked questions that meant he learned. If he learned that meant he would have more of his own opinions and feelings. "We are going to Washington to see how we can help out."

Vision turned back to the archer. "Why do you feel the Avengers are not needed in this situation, Hawkeye?"

"Do you want bullet points or whole arguments?" Clint asked sarcastically.

"I would prefer to hear your whole arguments to better understand your opinion on this topic," Vision replied.

Clint forgot that Vision hadn't fully grasped sarcasm yet. His wit was totally lost on the poor synthezoid. Sarcasm was part of his charm. "First after we saved the world from Galactus last week we all agreed to take a break. For us to get to actually enjoy the world we're always saving for once. Hulk bolted after the crowds stopped cheering, which was smart, since he missed cleanup we all had to do later. Stark went to west coast with his girlfriend Potts, enjoying that California sun. T'Challa went back home, probably living it up like the king he is. Wasp and Pym went vacationing. Thor has been coming and going from Asgard. He's probably spending time with that paramedic girl of his. Even Carol is spending time with the new Emperor Mar-Vell in the Kree Empire. The only ones who are stuck mansion sitting are you, me, and Cap. The three of us going to D.C. doesn't exactly sound like us relaxing."

This was a sore point with him. Clint wanted to live up somewhere like some exotic island or a lodging around some pool on a cruise. Somehow he had gotten stuck with the anti-social Avengers. Steve, Captain living in the 40s and scared to breach out, America and the Vision, an actual robot who barely grasped human society let alone knowing how to socialize. "Second, getting involved in mutant affairs is a horrible idea. That's all politics that the Avengers should be above."

Still confused Vision continued his questioning. "Why are mutant affairs political?"

"People have been debating about mutants since McCarthyism. It's a hot button topic that comes up every time some mutant kid so much as looks at normal kid wrong. People don't like to distinguish the bad mutants from the good ones, so you get one senator who will say every mutant needs to be rounded up and another one saying that's unconstitutional to do so. They argue back and forth on and on with no resolution. If you pick a side in debate you put a bull's eye on your back for every person to dissect your every little move to call you a fascist or bleeding heart liberal that alienates you from everyone. That's why it's a horrible idea for the Avengers to get involved directly. We should take down bad guys regardless of who or what they are, but the moment we start bringing mutants in for the government is when they start making us their mutant division and stops us from doing our real job."

What Hawkeye said was logical. Despite his rude demeanor at times Vision found the archer to be a thoughtful and intelligent man. He didn't fully comprehend the human-mutant debates. From all the information he had gathered it people disliked mutants for their mutations, but beings such as the Fantastic Four who were mutated by an accident where beloved heroes. What was the difference with natural born mutations and induced mutations that sparked two different reactions? It was apparent that he still had much to learn about human beings.

"We are doing our job, Clint." Steve retorted. "We aren't going after anyone because they're mutants. We're going to see what happened then go from there. If were asked to bring in Magneto we'll do so because he a committed a crime, not because he is a mutant." Steve wouldn't let the Avengers be used like that. Tony relinquished leadership to him, because he felt Steve was the best one to lead them. He wouldn't betray that trust. He believed in his heart that the Avengers should do everything within their power to help people, regardless with how other people viewed it. If they ignored this incident just because they were afraid to get involved in the mutant debate they were doing the victims a disservice.

"We still agreed to have a team at the mansion to respond to any crisis that may arise. It's just your bad luck you drew the short straw and got station at the mansion, Clint. Besides, the others are hardly sitting around. Tony and Ms. Potts went to California to start setting up a branch of Avengers in the west coast. T'Challa's had responsibilities in Wakanda to take care of. Ms. Marvel went to the Kree Empire to help Mar-Vell keep an eye on Ronan the Accuser. Not everyone in the Kree Empire share Mar-Vell's view. Ronan could be figure head for any Kree who want to cling to the old ways. Wasp thinks that some time away from the Avengers could help Hank recover from his breakdown. I think the Hulk mentioned visiting old friends."

"Don't tell me you believe that. Stark says he's off on business, but I've seen the way he looks at Potts. He's notorious for his little "business trips" then is caught by gossip tabloids off running around with some celebrity or model. Jan just wants time alone with Pym and Carol practically jumped at the assignment to go to Hala. No matter what she says she totally has a thing for Mar-Vell. I know it's been over 60 years since your last date, old man, but please tell me you can at least recognize the signs," Clint half teased and half mocked. "If you started dating again you might just be able to read them."

"How are Black Widow and Mockingbird?" To his amusement the chattering Clint became mute. The captain couldn't stop the triumphant grin that emerged.

Humans were so complex yet so easy to read at the same time. Their emotions could rule their actions, which Ultron considered a fatal flaw. It manifested itself in a number of different ways. At the mention of the Black Widow and Mockingbird Hawkeye's heartbeat sped up briefly. The archer's failure to make a comeback was unlike him. What human emotion was he experiencing that caused this?

Cap got him there, but the old man was being naïve if he thought doing the government a favor in stopping Magneto was as simple as that. Clint would have thought he would be wearier of the government since the Red Skull succeeded in infiltrating it and become the Secretary of Defense. Oh well he would see for himself the underhanded tactic of politics. "At least with Captain America here the press will bombard you with questions instead of me. For once I won't be the one caught on camera making the team look bad," he half joked. Seriously did they have to catch him on camera when things went wrong, but go to Tony when they saved the world?

* * *

The Quinjet arrived in U.S. capital. Captain America verified their identity to air space, while Vision and Hawkeye took in the sights. The newest Avenger commented on how lucky it was for the Red Skull's attack to have been stopped before he could destroy the nation's most prized monuments. All Clint saw was the angry protestors in the streets. All that was missing was pitchforks and torches and it would complete the blood thirsty mob vibe from the old horror films. The minute they landed just outside of the White House reporters swarmed. The vultures practically jumped them as soon as they came out. Thankfully secret service agents barricade between the heroes and the press.

"Captain, are the Avengers here to assist in capturing the mutants responsible for the destruction of a military base?" one reporter asked.

"In light of this new mutant attack do you think the Mutant Registration act should be revisited?" questioned another reporter.

"How come the Avengers haven't done anything about the mutant problem before?"

Steve never did like media circus that went along with being a superhero. He would take Arnim Zola's most viscous creations over being on display for the reporters to scrutinize every little thing he did. He always had to mind his words lest they be misconstrued. "No comment." It did nothing to deter the questions, which persisted they made beyond the gates. The words had been second nature to him at this point. He had said it over and over again when reporters bombarded him about what his Skrull double ganger told the world to surrender.

"Still think this is a good idea?" Hawkeye asked smugly. Steve chose to ignore him. It was no secret that Clint could be cynical. The former Shield agent was certain them getting involved would spell disaster, but he refused to believe that. If they didn't try to help when they could than they were no better than the people responsible for the crime. The people in the crowd weren't just reporters. There were a number of everyday people there. What he saw disturbed him. They chanted slurs at mutant in general. One person had a noose in their hand. It was eerier to see such a mob out of blind hatred again. He remembered those same mobs in his day. The world had changed so much from his day. It made so much advancement that he could hardly believe it himself. Steve was surprised by some of the things hadn't changed. Physical and genetic differences still had the power to cause such strife.

Secret service agents ran a number of tests to verify that they were who they said they were. Steve and Clint had to check their weapons with them. Steve was reluctant to let go of one of the few links to his old life he ultimately surrendered it. The agents were doing their duty and making sure the president wasn't in any danger. Of course there was a minor debate on whether or not Vision could accompany them, because of his robotic nature and abilities, but he refused to budge on that. As far as Steve was concerned Vision was an Avenger. If they wanted the Avengers help they would allow Vision to meet the president.

Three heroes were in the oval office. For third time in his life Captain America met the president. The first time he met FDR after Project Rebirth had been a success. The second time was when he and the Avengers exposed and captured the Red Skull. The president was a tall and clean shaven man. He had black hair, dark brown eyes, and light shade brown skin. He wore a dark gray suit and a black tie. The bags under his eyes and small wrinkles forming on his face were testimony to the stress that came from shoulder an entire nation on ones shoulders. Despite looking worn out a bright and wide smile formed. He got out of his seat to greet them.

"It is good to see you again, Captain America." He reached out to shake hands.

"Mr. President," Steve greeted. One by one each one of the Avengers shook his hand.

"I am glad you agreed to come here today," the president continued. He sat back into his chair. "I'm sure all of you are aware of what happened last night?"

Steve was about to respond when Hawkeye beat him to it. "If you mean a military facility being destroyed by Magneto and his latest bunch of cronies for his Brotherhood than yes, we heard a little about that." The sarcasm, wit, and amusement was blended so perfectly. For his efforts he earned glare from every secret service agent in the room. If the president disapproved of Hawkeye's remark he didn't show it.

"As you can see the attack has started a new wave of anti-mutant hysteria across the nation. Magneto and his followers were ruthless. They killed every soldier at the facility and reduced the building to ruble."

"This is bold for Magneto," the captain commented. "He usually attacks organizations, companies, and other groups that suppress or discriminate against mutants. He doesn't lash out at the government or government officials unless there is act like Mutant Registration being debated on."

Clint looked dumbfounded at the super soldier's knowledge. "How did you know all that? We've never encountered Magneto before?"

Captain America smirked. "When I was reading to catch up on events after War World II I came across mutant activities. Magneto's name came up more than a few times. I even read all the data Jarvis had on him."

"Color me impressed, Captain," the president said with a smile. "You're partially right. Magneto has made vicious moves against us before, but this is still so ruthless for him." The charisma had evaporated leaving a worn out and tired man. "This has been a terrible day. He killed every last man and woman on that base."

Vision's interest piqued at the president's choice of words. "Excuse me, Mr. President, may I inquire why did you say Captain America was only partially correct in his assessment of Magneto?"

"A while back Magneto used his powers to take control of Sentinels. He sent them to attack Washington. Fortunately for us they were stopped before they ever reached here."

"Who stopped them?" Vision asked. Before the president could answer his question the door opened up. One of the agents stuck their head in.

"Sir, the other party is here."

The president's demeanor shifted. Stress melted. "Please send them in and thank you." The agent disappeared behind the door. Seconds later the door opened again. No agent came through this time. Three people in uniforms walked through. The first one to walk in was a tall and slim man. He wasn't overly muscular as Captain America was, but he was slightly more muscular than Hawkeye's physique. He wore a dark navy blue body suit and matching mask that was cut off before his nose. He wore a dark gray visor with ruby red lens. A yellow-gold belt was strapped around his waist. He wore black boots. In the center was a X. He wore a dark gray trench coat.

A woman of average height followed after him. The most noticeable about her was her long red hair. She also wore a dark green body suit that showed off her full figure. There was a giant yellow X on her chest. She wore matching yellow boots, gloves, and a belt with X on it.

The final one was the most unusual of all. His body and posture were more animal like than human. He had blue fur all over his body. His hair was unruly, but didn't exceed his shoulders. He had blue sideburns. His body frame was large and muscular, at least twice as large as the build of an average man. He had a minor hunch back that made him slouch. He was shorter than the first man, but taller than the woman. Unlike other two he didn't wear a full body suit and was barefoot. His pants mixed colored pants. The outside was bright yellow, while the inside was dark blue. He wore a dark blue vest, while the inside lining was yellow. There X on right side of his vest.

"You wanted to know who stopped Magneto, Vision. You are looking at the people responsible." The president opened his arms to welcome the new arrivals. "Avengers I would like to introduce you to the X-Men."

* * *

**Let me know what you think so far. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I barrowed elements from Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon for this story, but also elements of the 90s X-Men too. The characters from the X series will be a nice mix of various series. They'll probably more influenced by Wolverine and the X-Men. Cyclops and Beast's appearances are lifted straight from the cartoon. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or the X-Men.**

* * *

"This is Cyclops," the president pointed the man wearing visor, "the Beast," he pointed to the blue one, "and Marvel Girl," the president pointed to the final member.

The red haired woman frowned. "Jean Grey will do fine." The frown subsided instantly as soon as she saw who else was in the room. Her green eyes widened with shock. "Oh wow, the Avengers. This is surprising. I mean I should have realized when he said Avengers that he was talking about the Avengers. I didn't know the Avengers would be here." She wanted to die. She was babbling like a school girl in awe of her favorite rock band. She thought those days were behind her. "Scott, Hank, why didn't you tell me?"

An equally surprised Beast was having trouble forming his thoughts. "I must confess that I too was unaware the Avengers were coming."

"You aren't the only ones," Hawkeye announced. "I don't get why we're here if you called the X-Men. They've taken on Magneto more times than anyone else and always come out on top. The Avengers aren't needed here."

Steve found himself agreeing with Clint. His knowledge on the X-Men was limited, but he did know they were a mutant superhero team who dealt with Magneto and other mutant super villains. They were more experienced at dealing with the master of magnetism than the Avengers were. "Why did you call both teams here?" he asked the president.

The president inhaled deeply before exhaling. "I called both the Avengers and X-Men because I need both of your expertise." Both superhero teams stared at him trying to discern his words. "What I'm about to tell you hasn't been made public yet. We didn't want to cause mass hysteria. Magneto didn't just destroy a military facility. The facility was holding nuclear missiles that were going to deployed into one our military bases overseas. We checked the debris and every single one of them was missing." Faces around him were stricken by fear and disbelief. That was his face when he heard the news.

"Are you sure they weren't destroyed?" Cyclops asked. "From what I saw on the news the entire base was left in shambles. I wouldn't be surprised if missiles were destroyed as well."

"If only that were true, but unfortunately if that were the case we would have found the remains of the missiles in the wreckage. There wasn't a single shred of debris from missiles. That leads us to believe…"

"That Magneto has the missiles," Steve finished.

"This is what the professor always feared," a grim faced Cyclops said.

Outraged Hawkeye slammed his hand into the president's desk. Immediately every agent had their guns aimed at him. The former Shield agent paid them no attention and kept his focus on the man sitting behind the desk. "How could you let a mad man like him steal nuclear weapons? The whole country is his target!" He wanted to shout more, but Cap stopped him.

"Easy there, Hawkeye." Those three words were enough to quell his frustrations for the time being anyway. Well that and all the guns aimed at him also helped him hold his tongue for a bit as well.

"Believe me, Hawkeye you are not the only one who feels this way," the president sighed. "A mutant terrorist with stolen nuclear missiles makes everyone nervous. We're trying to contact Genosha…."

"Genosha?" Steve never heard the name before. When he woke up from his ice hibernation he had to catch up on more than 60 years of history. While he made progress there was still so much he still didn't know. Genosha was in the category of things he hadn't learned yet.

"Genosha is an island nation run and inhabited entirely by mutants or it is now." The captain saw that the X-Man known as Cyclops had answered his question. "Originally the Genoshan government used its mutant population as slave labor and tried to lure in more mutants in by advertising it as a mutant paradise. As soon as mutants came in they weren't allowed to leave or even contact the outside world. Even today no one is sure just how long Genosha had been enslaving their mutants. The popular belief is that it happened 30 years ago when Genosha made name for itself as wealthy nation on its way to becoming a world power. One day a group of mutants escaped on a makeshift raft. Only one person survived the escape attempt though. She told the world what really went on in Genosha. The UN debated on how to handle the crisis, but Magneto took it upon himself to act."

"He and his Brotherhood of Mutants invaded Genosha. They freed all the mutants they could and started an uprising that overthrew the Genoshan government. Magneto became the new ruler of Genosha. He tried to turn Genosha into a true mutant paradise. The human population was allowed to remain, but most fled out of fear of mutants retaliating. Those fears weren't unfounded. The ones who remained kept disappearing without a trace, until only the mutant population remained," Cyclops finished.

The president took over. "Tensions with Genosha were high when Magneto came into power. In order to avoid conflict with Magneto we made a deal with him. In order to keep him from interfering directly in our business we promised to send him mutants imprisoned by the Mutant Response Division. We thought we were killing two birds with one stone. Instead of spending money to build new prisons to house mutant criminals we send them to Genosha. We revoked their citizenship so they couldn't get back into the country. Of course we kept the ones with most dangerous powers here. We weren't too trusting. The arrangement worked for a while. The M.R.D. became overzealous. They weren't just capturing mutants who committed crimes…."

"They were capturing any mutant they deemed was a threat," Beast interrupted.

At this response Steve frowned. "I thought punishment came after the crime not before it."

Jean furrowed her brow. "That's how it should be, but Senator Kelly's paranoia of mutant-kind ran rampant." She remembered those dark days. Senator Kelly infected the whole nation with irrational fear of all mutant kind. He could even make a child with a mutation that gave him a fish appearance into a raging monster ready to massacre all humans. The worst part was Kelly actually believed everything word he spoke. That allowed him to draw in millions of people to his way of thinking. "He used Magneto and the Brotherhood to scare people into supporting his policies. He won so much support that M.R.D. was able to round any mutant who didn't register and start the Sentinel program."

Sentinels were something that Steve didn't need information on. He read article about the robotic giants built by a scientist named Trusk or Trask to use against mutant criminals. The Sentinel program was shut down before it truly got started around the same time the Mutant Registration Act fell through.

The president squirmed and fidgeted like a child caught doing mischief by his parents. "I admit mistakes were made. Senator Kelly was given too much control over the M.R.D. After the more horrific actions were revealed to us he was reeled in and the Sentinels program was shutdown. We tried to make amends by releasing all mutants who were wrongfully imprisoned, but that wasn't enough for Magneto. He wanted a war. He staged an attack on Genosha by having one of his flunkies reprogram the last remaining Sentinels to rally his people against us. If it weren't for you X-Men he would have succeeded."

This didn't make sense to Vision. Why would Magneto go as far as to attack his own people just to start a war? "I do not understand how instigating a war would have helped achieve Magneto's goal of mutant prosperity?"

"Magneto doesn't believe normal humans and mutants can co-exist," Jean explained. "In short he believes war is inevitable. He wants to rally all mutant kind to his cause in order to strike first. That's why the X-Men come in conflict with him. He takes extreme actions against the human race, so we have to stop him."

Steve shook his head in disgust. "To attack his people not only betrays them, but discredits his entire cause. You shouldn't rally people behind fear."

"You are not wrong, captain," Beast agreed. "After we revealed Magneto's actions the people of Genosha exiled him. His daughter Wanda Maximoff the Scarlet Witch was made ruler in his place."

The president nodded in agreement. "Under her rule we've had friendly relations with Genosha. We even lifted the embargo we had when Magneto was ruler. After last night I have a bunch of angry senators on the phone demanding Magneto's head. They want the troops to storm Genosha, never mind the fact that there is no evidence Magneto is actually in Genosha at all." He massaged his temples. He could feel a headache coming on. "I'm trying my best to reason with them, but it's not getting through. There is going to an emergence session of Congress later this week on what to do. It looks like there could be a vote to send soldiers to Genosha. If it passes that means we could be at war with Genosha."

Both the Avengers and X-Men let the weight of the president's words sink in. War with Genosha would resonate through the country. In the worst case scenario a war with the only mutant ruled nation in the world could permanently split the human and mutant populations. Irrational hate would consume people. All mutants would be targeted by their wrath and fear. The mutants would strike back with fury just as great if not greater. The nation would split in two. The aftermath would reshape the world into something that might not want to see.

"A war with Genosha could start a second civil war here, one between humans and mutants," the president said, vocalizing their fears. After everything his administration had done to improve human-mutant relations everything was falling apart. Yesterday they were talking about a mutant's right act. Sure prejudice was still there and no doubt a mutants' right act would be filibustered, but it was a start. Now they were on the brink of war.

"We've already seen where that war leads to," Cyclops muttered darkly. The memories of Xavier's mental pictures of the Sentinel ruled future was forever scarred into his brain. The war had no winners, mutants and humans were both on the brink of extinction thanks to the robotic overlords. Mutants were rounded up into internment camps just waiting to die off. It was the worst future he could imagine. It was future he thought they averted. "You said you were trying to contact Genosha. Does that mean you haven't been able to contact them at all yet?"

"We did contact them. Scarlet Witch has her own people searching the island for any signs of Magneto, but refused to let us send any of our own people. Naturally you can see how this looks. Magneto would need the resources and a base of operations if he plans to use missiles. Genosha is under the rule of his daughter."

"You don't trust her?" Hawkeye blurted out.

"I don't think she is lying," the president answered truthfully. "Scarlet Witch has given me no reason to doubt her intentions in the past. However, she was one of Magneto's most devoted followers and his daughter. If I'm wrong well I would have bigger problems than trying to get reelected. That's why I called all of you here. The Avengers and the X-Men aren't officially tied to the government. If you go to Genosha she might allow you to search. The X-Men have experience fighting Magneto and the Avengers track record for saving world. If the two teams work together we might get Magneto and the missiles back before the emergence session even starts."

Might was never a good word in Clint's experience. That meant this endeavor was unsanctioned. Would Scarlet Witch be as willing to let them in her country as the president thought? His gut was killing him. It screamed no at him.

Steve's conscious nagged at him. The plan didn't sit well with him. They didn't have evidence that Genosha was harboring Magneto. Going there without their permission was wrong. "I'm sorry Mr. President, but we can't just go into another country that doesn't want us there. It is Scarlet Witch's country. She has the right to run things without us interfering."

Beast chimed in, "I concur with Captain America. You yourself have said there is no evidence to suggest Wanda is lying to you. The United States and Genosha's friendly relationship has gone a long way to improve human and mutant relationship here. We should at least try to make contact with her before we head Genosha or we risk the very war we wish to avoid."

"I wouldn't be asking any of you to do something like this if the situation wasn't dire. Anti-mutant sentiment has flared up because of this attack. I have people banging on the gates crying for mutants to be locked up. We're on the brink of a war. If we do nothing we risk war, but if we can catch Magneto and get the missiles back we can avert all of this. I'm not asking you to go over there as soldiers or agents. I'm asking you to do what you always do, help people. As far as I'm concerned you're doing what usually do, which means no reporting to me, Shield, CIA, or anyone. You're just trying to find a super villain and if it just so happens to take you to Genosha so be it."

That sounded a little too much like Nick Fury would have told him. The underhanded nature bothered him. Cap found he couldn't argue with it though. War was never kind. No matter what the cause or reason it always ate away at everyone involved. It changed people. He experienced that first hand. The good Lord knew how the constant battles played a hand in transforming plucky Bucky into the stoic pessimistic Winter Soldier. If he could prevent another war from scarring more people he would take it. He took a deep breath. "The Avengers are in," he said reluctantly.

The X-Men were far from convinced. Beast let his anxieties mar his face. "I still insist that we continue to try to reach Wanda. Despite her past and parentage she has been working tirelessly to undo the damage her father had done. We should at least give her a chance."

"Sometimes we can't afford to go through the proper channels blue boy," Hawkeye sneered. This earned him a glare from the Beast.

"The X-Men have worked with Wanda in the past. She might be willing to let us in Genosha if we ask her to," Beast argued.

"Finding Magneto takes primary importance," Cyclops stated. "I don't believe Wanda got herself mixed up with him again, but we have to consider it a possibility at this point. If she is that means she won't respond to our calls."

Beast was about to argue when he felt a gentle touch on his right arm. He turned around to see a compassionate Jean giving him a weary smile. "Scott has a point, Hank. Too much is riding is on this. Remember the professor showed us the result of a human-mutant war. If the public finds out that Magneto stole nuclear missiles they'll want the Sentinel program reactivated. That dark future could still happen."

Hank gave in. Asking for forgiveness afterward would be easier than asking permission. "The X-Men will help as well," Cyclops assured. The president looked as if the clock had been turned back. Creases in his face were dissolved.

"Thank you. You have no idea just how much this means." The relief in his voice was unmistakable. He watched the group of heroes exit his office. He pitted all the nation's hopes on them. It was up to them now.

* * *

Captain America turned to the X-Men. "We didn't get to properly introduce ourselves to you. I'm Steve Rogers." He held his hand out.

Cyclops shook the living legends hand. He could hardly believe he was face to face with the Captain America. The man was a symbol to millions of people during a bleak time. The man was still a symbol of better tomorrow. "It is an honor to meet you, captain. I'm Scott Summers, the field leader of the X-Men."

"The honor is all mine, son. I've followed some of your exploits. I know the X-Men have been fighting the good fight in spite of the fear and prejudice people give you. You're real heroes."

"Coming from you that means a lot," Cyclops said almost giddily. He sounded like a school boy. He was eternally thankful Logan wasn't here to see this or he would never let him live it down, ever.

He let go off the X-leader's hand and turned his sights to the red haired woman. "You're called Marvel Girl, right?" He heard her groan.

"My code name is Marvel Girl, but I prefer Jean." She had to talk to the professor about changing it. The name was fine when she was a teenager, but she was a fully grown woman now. No one called her that name anymore anyway. Most forgot about the name. If Kitty heard it she would probably tease her to no end.

Before Cap could ask the final member was ready. "The Beast is my code name, but I am also known as Dr. Henry McCoy or Hank for short. I am fine by either name."

"It is good to meet you, Dr. McCoy." They shared a brief handshake.

Clint knew were this was going and before Cap could even ask he was already introducing himself. "Clint or Hawkeye, either name is good."

"I am the Vision," the android mustered his friendliest tone. Iron Man had offered to adjust his voice box to allow him to sound more human, but he declined. Against logic he wanted try to sound less robotic on his own. He practiced alone in his quarters in secret from the other Avengers. Part of him feared they would tease him. Cyclops shook his hand hesitantly unsure of what to make of him. Marvel Girl cast him an odd expression before quickly changing it. Beast's face lit up with what could only be described as uninhibited delight.

He eagerly shook his hand forgetting to mind his strength. Vision didn't find it a problem, but knew if he had human body Beast would have accidently crushed his hand. "Astonishing, your sleek design and humanoid appearance are remarkable. This is some of the most advance robotics I have ever seen. You're a perfect android or…."

"Synthetic humanoid or synthezoid," Vision supplied.

Beast's smile widened. The X-Man found his term more appealing than the term android. "Synthezoid does you more justice than android does of course. Your mannerisms are closer to human than the original android models. I shouldn't be surprised given how advance Tony Stark's Iron Man armor is. Is he also responsible for your design?"

"My design and creation is the result of the joint efforts of Tony Stark and Hank Pym on synthetic humanoids designs."

"Oh, of course! How could I forget Dr. Pym's theories on mapping human brain patterns into a computer? It caused a stir in the scientific community. There were a number of people who thought the theory was impossible and another group that thought it was unethical to do. I had no idea that Dr. Pym had been successful. Are you the first generation?"

"Actually I am the second generation of synthezoids."

"There is already a second generation? I wish Forge could see this. He would want to meet you."

Cyclops rolled his eyes behind his visor. Hank always got like this when something stirred his scientific interest. "Sorry about this," he told the captain. "Hank gets excited about technology and science."

"No need to apologize. Our Hank is the same way or was the same way." Steve never thought he would get used to their Hank's enthusiasm when he first joined the Avengers. Now he found himself missing the scientist that jumped out of his skin when he witnessed new monstrous creation or 41st century technology.

"We can arrange a playdate between the two Hanks later. We need to find Magneto before a war breaks out," Clint reminded the group.

"He's right," Steve said. "The X-Men have more experience dealing with Magneto and know Scarlet Witch. The Avengers will follow your lead, Cyclops." The X leader acknowledged the super soldier with a head nod. "Let's go Avengers," Steve called.

"Move out X-Men," Scott said.

* * *

The group mobilized as fast as they could. Captain America and Hawkeye retrieved their weapons before returning to the Quinjet. Their mutant counterparts went to their jet, the Blackbird. They flew off to the direction of Genosha. Jean telepathically sent the coordinates to Steve, startling him until she explained her mutant power. He thought Jarvis took getting used to.

Cyclops opened communications with the Quinjet to talk the old fashion way, which Captain America appreciated. Hearing the X leader's voice with his ears and not his mind was more his comfort zone.

"Jean," Scott called. "Update the professor on what's going on and ask him to use Cerebro to scan for any disturbances in Genosha. Hank, you try to contact Wanda and get her permission to land on Genosha. She said we were welcome at any time, but I have a feeling she'll be more restrictive this time." Without a word of complaint they carried out their tasks. "With any luck we'll get Scarlet Witch's permission."

"If luck isn't on our side?" asked Steve.

"We'll have to do things the hard way," replied Cyclops.

"Knowing our luck we'll have to fight all Genosha," Clint said, leaning back in his chair. "Aren't there supposed to be more X-Men? Where is Wolverine or that one that can control the weather?"

"Both Wolverine and Storm are on mission with Nightcrawler and Rogue. They are following a lead on a rogue mutant scientist, known as Mr. Sinister, who steals genetic material from mutants for his experimentations. The others are busy. We're the only ones available."

"That's perfect," the archer muttered.

"Can't you call the other Avengers?" Cyclops asked.

"All of the other Avengers are occupied as well," Vision explained.

"The six of us will have to be enough," Captain America stated. Going in small numbers was probably best. They didn't want to look like a conquering army and give off the wrong the impression.

"Any luck, Hank?" Scott knew if his friend made success he would have informed him immediately, but he still hoped Hank had good news. His luck wasn't that good. Hank told him he was unsuccessfully. "What about the professor, Jean?"

"Hold on, Scott. The professor is going to tell us himself. He's just opening a telepathic link with the Avengers."

"Who is the professor you keep mentioning?" Steve asked.

"That would be me, captain," a disembodied voice said.

The super soldier jumped out of his seat. That wasn't Jean's voice. At least he wasn't the only one caught off guard. Clint was just as shaken up by this new voice as well. Vision was unable to hear anything.

"Please accept my apology, Captain Rogers. I know telepathic communications can be a bit eerier for the first time. I found this would be an easier way to communicate with you. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Professor Charles Xavier, the founder of the X-Men and I am considered something of an expert on mutants."

"I don't really think I can get used to hearing voices inside my head," Clint stated.

"The professor usually stays at our mansion and school, the Xavier Institute. He acts as mission control for us," Scott explained.

"He can communicate with us from that far?" Clint cried in disbelief. He never had of a telepath with such infinite range before.

"I am able to communicate with you at such distance with aid of Cerebro. It's a device created to help me find other mutants anywhere on the planet so I could help them control their powers."

Confusion set in on Steve. "Professor, if you can use this Cerebro to find other mutants why not use it to find Magneto?"

"Sadly I cannot find Magneto with Cerebro. You see were once friends. We built Cerebro and started the Xavier Institute together. Magneto didn't believe co-existence between normal humans and mutants could ever be achieved. He left to gather his own followers to prepare for a war he feels is inevitable. He knows how to block my telepathy because of his hand in Cerebro's creation."

There had to something more they could do Steve thought. Maybe there was a person with Magneto that they could find.

"I am unaware of who Eric's latest followers are. Without that knowledge I cannot extend my search." Steve was amazed at how Xavier knew what he was thinking until he realized he was talking or thinking to a telepath. "I will keep you informed if I discover anything. I wish you all the best of luck."

Xavier's voice was no longer in their heads. The telepathic link he opened was closed off. Again Steve was puzzled at how the X-Men got used to sharing thoughts like that. Clint informed Vision of the conversation, leaving the living legend alone with his own thoughts, just the way he liked it.

The Blackbird was no ordinary jet. It could keep up with Quinjet, which was the best Stark technology could offer. Like the Quinjet the Blackbird could travel at high speeds and skim the atmosphere. This cut down the time it would take a normal aircraft to travel across the globe considerably. The journey would take an hour at best. Without much to do the two teams would talk or prepare for the mission. Hawkeye was busy switching out all his metal arrows with plastic ones.

"You should use Stark's energy shield." Clint was speaking to Steve. "I know your old one has sentimental value, but its metal. Magneto can use it against us. Having seen that thing in action I don't want to be on the receiving end of it. I have no idea what we're going to do for you Vision," he wondered aloud.

"After our last battle with Ultron the energy shield was destroyed. Tony never got around to making another one. I'll have to take my chances." With a little luck on his side his trusty shield wouldn't be used to bash his teammates' skulls in. He shared Clint's concern about Vision. His metal body would make him all, but putty in Magneto's hands. Time went by fast. Before they knew it they were ten minutes out of Genosha. Beast couldn't make contact with Genosha and eventually gave up. The plan was to reach country and go to Scarlet Witch themselves. Both jets possessed two of the best cloaking devices known to man. They could get to the country without alerting any radar.

They successfully entered Genosha without getting shot at a fact that Hawkeye happily expressed. They came to a consensus to land the planes away from the cities and to go on foot. The Quinjet and Blackbird were landed in a jungle not too far from Hammer Cove, the capital. They could walk there in no time at all. The two sets of heroes exited the jets and met outside.

Vision floated above the tops of the untamed jungle tree tops. He scanned the area and found nothing standing out. When his recon was done the synthezoid landed back to his earthbound teammates. "My scanners detected no human life signals within the immediate area. We should be safe at the moment."

Cyclops turned to the red haired telepath. "Do you sense anything?" She shook her head no. "It's not too far from the Hammer Cove. If we hike now we could definitely be there before the sun even sets. Beast and Vision should cover our rear. Vision flies and Beast's acrobatics on trees should let them see anyone without being noticed themselves. Jean and Hawkeye you go to the front, while Captain America and I will be in the center and steal focus away from you two. Jean's telepathy and Hawkeye's eyes they'll catch sight of anyone that might be in front of us." They had their assignments and were quick to act them out. Vision glided behind with Beast swinging from the tree tops. Jean and Hawkeye ran ahead leaving the two team leaders in the center.

None of them were aware that they're arrival hadn't gone undetected. Miles away in the citadel that once belonged to the master of magnetism a woman sat on the cold metallic floors in a meditative stance. Completely disconnected with her surrounding her mind was in the jungles with the six intruders. Three were familiar to her, while the other three she hadn't met, but she was vaguely sure she had seen two of them before. She was about to get a closer look when Jean Grey was about to start a mental probe of the area. The telepath would instantly sense her presence if she stayed there she fled back to her body. She was out of the jungles and back in the citadel and into her own body.

She was taller than the average woman, had long blonde hair, and wore a mostly dark blue uniform. The long arm sleeves were dull red. There was two red thin red strips side of her top, two red stripes just above her thighs, and a red headband. Her eyes opened to reveal a light shade of blue. Her face stern and a bit worn, yet she was still pleasing to the eye.

"What is it, Scanner?"

Traveling outside of her body in astral form had its benefits, but also had its own share of drawbacks. One of the drawbacks was her need to readjust to her body and its normal senses. The blue and white blur she saw when she first opened her eyes fully formed into a man. He was a young man, but had white short hair. His face plagued with lines from constant scowling. He wore a full body turquoise spandex uniform with matching gloves and boots. A white lightning bolt was plastered on his chest. The trim of his gloves and boots were shaped in white lightning bolts. He even had a stripe of white around his waist shaped as a lightning bolt.

"The X-Men and some people I don't know are on the island."

"Typical. The president was hounding us and who shows up no other than Xavier's high and mighty X-Men. Nice to know they still don't trust us."

"What should we do?" Scanner asked.

"Inform Wanda of what's going on. I'll take the others and intercept the invaders. Genosha is our country. The humans aren't going to interfere in our affairs. If Charles Xavier thinks that he and his X-Men can come in here and tell us what do like the old days they've got another thing coming."

* * *

Their trek through the wilderness was largely uneventful. So far they hadn't encountered any of the mutant citizens. Everything was going smoothly. Things were going a little too smoothly. A sense of dread was spreading throughout the group. Even Vision could feel it. In his time with the Avengers had taught him that things didn't go as well as planned, ever. No matter how many times he scanned the area he couldn't detect any life signatures. Logically this meant everything was going according to plan, yet he still could not help, but feel that this was a false sense of security.

Here he was relying on feelings over cold hard logic. Ultron would have been disappointed in this latest development yet Vision felt an odd sense of satisfaction in going against his creator's programing and experiencing more human emotions. Wasp one time joked that the satisfaction he took over defying Ultron was a form of teenage rebellion. "Dr. McCoy, I detect no life signatures in the immediate area. However, I cannot help but feel this situation will change in a moment's notice."

Beast had finished hopping to the next tree in his path. "I share similar sentiments. Even though we landed in the jungle it is still unlikely for us to not encounter anyone." He swung to closest branch.

Vision calculated the probability of not encountering a human or animal in area near the capital of the mutant nation. As Beast said it was very unlikely for them not to have encountered anyone. He redid the math two more times and it came out the same. "By my calculations given we are in close proximity to Genosha's capital there is a 33.96% probability of us not encountering another human or animal."

Vision confirmed his theory. Hank now feared that they were walking into an ambush. Ready for any danger that should appear Captain America was armed with his shield, while Hawkeye had his trusty bow in hand. "Anyone else feel like we're just walking right into a trap?" Clint had enough of the silence. It made things worse.

"You don't have to be a telepath to know everyone is thinking the same thing as you." Jean smiled. Like Hawkeye she found the quietness to be suffocating.

"We established we feel like we're heading to a trap. The next order of business is what should we expect?" Hawkeye posed the question to the blue cladded leaders. Neither of them answered his question. Instead he was answered by the sudden quaking of the earth. The seismic disruption forced them to their knees. Beast lost his grip on branch and fell. Before he could crash Vision scooped him up.

"You have my thanks, Vision."

"Thanks is not required, Dr. McCoy. My analysis of the area suggests that this seismic activity is not a natural occurrence."

Beast wasn't surprised this earthquake was unnatural. There was only one person he knew of that could be behind this.

The earthquake ended just as sudden as it started. Everyone struggled to regain their footing when five people appeared out of thin air. On the left was the massive form of red haired, Blob and the green skinned Toad. The bulky Avalanche and limber Domino were in the right. Right in front of them stood the speedster Quicksilver. They surrounded the heroes.

Quicksilver was taken aback. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Beast were expected, but he had no idea he would be staring at Captain freaking America, stripes and stars in all. "X-men and Avengers!" he heard Toad exclaim. "How the hell does Scanner not recognize Captain America?" Quicksilver found himself agreeing with Toad for a change. The presence of world saving heroes intimidated him, but they couldn't back down. Genosha was their country. If they weren't prepared to fight for it even against the Avengers than anyone could waltz in and tell them what to do whenever they pleased.

"I don't care who they are. They are still invaders. We won't let anyone threaten Genosha. It's time to take out the trash." Quicksilver was impressed by the force he was able to put into his words. It dispelled any fear from his teammates. Domino cocked and aimed her blaster gun at the invaders. Blob planted his feet firmly in the ground. Even Toad was ready to pounce. "Attack!" The defenders of Genosha launched at their opposition. The heroes still off balance watched as their enemies moved in for the attack.

"I had to ask," Clint growled. He hastily rushed for an arrow only to have his arm stopped by something wet and sticky. He turned is head to see Toad's overgrown tongue wrapped around his forearm. "Now that's just disgust…" He was lifted off his feet and hurled right into the side of a tree. His back was going to kill him tomorrow.

Captain America rushed to his friend's aid only to be blocked by gluttonous form of Blob. "Stand aside."

A devious smile emerged from the bloated face. "What are you going to do about it, flag boy?" The captain rammed his shield straight at his gut. As soon as the shield came in contact with his flabby belly it stopped. He loved to see the expression of disbelief on people's faces when they say that. He charged Captain America, surprising him with his speed. Blob rammed the star spangled hero and watched him fly several feet away. "I guess no one told you I'm the immovable Blob." His victory was short lived as he was lifted into the air powerless to move and frightened. He was the victim of Jean Grey's telekinesis.

"Only immovable if you are on the gro….Aaaahh!" A sharp jolt stuck Jean's body. Her concentration was lost along with her hold on Blob. She fell struggling to remain conscious. Domino smirked at the fallen X-Woman. Her blaster gun's stung function was more powerful than she thought.

Avalanche and Cyclops were locked in combat. Cyclops blocked a punch from the earthquake starter. He swiftly followed with a hard kick to the chest. Avalanche stumbled backward, but he didn't go down. He countered with a series of punches, only for Cyclops to weave in and out of them. Seeing an opening Cyclops delivered a straight jab to the face and the abdomen. He charged Avalanche knocking him off his feet. With his opponent down the X leader fired an optic blast at Domino. She saw it coming and was able to jump out of the way. He prepared for a second shot he was thrown off his feet by a strong blow.

"Too slow, Summers." Cyclops tried to blast Quicksilver. The dope didn't even realize he was gone by the time his hand got to visor. The next blast had no better luck nor did the one after that. Quicksilver found amusement in dodging the red energy blasts, but enough was enough. After evaded the next blast he went behind Summers. He tapped him on the shoulder. Cyclops readied another blast as he turned around Quicksilver punched him in the face before he could fire the shot off. "You X-Men aren't as tough as you think."

While the speedster celebrated his victory over the X leader he failed to see the energy blast from behind him. His face met the hard earth as a result. "Quicksilver!" he heard Domino cry.

Vision and Beast rushed to their team's aid. The synthezoid got the jump on the speedster before he could react by unleashing the energy beam from his gem. At Beast's insistence he threw him at the Blob just as he was closing in on Marvel Girl. The blue X-Man landed on top his head. For the Blob this act was not only surprising, but harmful. In his struggle to get Beast off he staggered around. Without taking root to the ground his immovable ability was all, but useless. A recovering Cyclops saw this opportunity and took it. He fired an optic blast at the villain's legs. Blob went tumbling down, while Beast jumped off of him.

Toad angered at his friend's fall charged at Cyclops without a second thought. "You are going to pay for that Summers!" Toad kicked Cyclops in his chest, knocking him down. He fired an optic blast Toad hopped over him and missed the blast. Cyclops fired another shot that had similar results. Toad had better luck. His elongated tongue wrapped itself around the visor wearing X-Man. Toad tossed him into the air. He gleefully watched his hated enemy fly. Before he could enjoy the splattering the Beast jumped into the air to catch his teammate.

"Thanks, Beast." The two men landed safely thanks to Beast's agility and stamina.

"Happy to be of assistance, Scott," Hank said warmly. He was quickly blinded by green slime splattered onto his eyes. It was stuck on his fur. It would take forever to get it out.

Toad snickered. "Sorry blue boy, but that's what you get when you mess up my fun." He turned his sights back to Cyclops. He leapt at Cyclops. His agility and ability to leap at high heights made him a tough target to hit, but not impossible. He found out the hard way when his legs were tied together by a specialized arrow that opened up into a grabbling rope. No longer able to jump made Toad an easy target for Cyclops who blasted him away.

"Thanks, Hawkeye." He lowered the setting of his visor and blasted off the slime stuck to Beast's eyes.

"No problem. I owed that little slim ball." He rubbed his arm against a tree. "My arm is still slimy," he complained.

Domino tried to run as far as she could from the robot, but he wouldn't let up. He fired beam at her, but she dodged it. When she turned to shoot him he fired at her blaster gun and destroyed it. Forced to fall back on her handguns the white skinned mutant shot at him. She was confident her probability power would guide her shots to their mark. They did, except they went right through the robot. "No way." Domino continued to shoot at him, but they kept going right through him. He flew right through her. He grabbed her handguns from behind her. "What are you?"

"Vision," he replied. Hawkeye was rubbing off on him. He just made a quip.

Blob got back to his feet. He was seething. "I'm going crush all of you!" He rushed at Cyclops and Beast. They got out of his way. A sharp turn was enough to put Blob back on target. He was going right for Beast. He caught the glimpse of a spinning object smash against his head. Blackness filled his sights. He was knocked unconscious and crashed so hard that the ground shook. The shield returned to its owner. Captain America was glad the big guy could be knocked out.

Avalanche went for broke and ripped the ground apart beneath the heroes. They scattered as fast they could. Captain America, Cyclops, and Hawkeye launched their attacks. He was hit by the combined efforts of the mighty shield, an electric arrow, and an optic blast. The man was on his back and the air knocked out of him. His body refused to move and his head was killing him.

Quicksilver was the last one standing. "Surrender," the captain demanded. The white haired man smirked at the super soldier.

"I don't think so." He rushed them. He was a blur to them. He knocked down Cyclops, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Beast before any of them could move. "You boys are still too slow to touch me." He moved his feet he found he wasn't touching anything. A glance to below revealed he was floating helplessly in the air. Grey was back up. He found himself completely immobile altogether. He could feel Grey peering through his mind, commanding it, and enslaving him until he lost complete control of his body.

"What's happened to him?" Steve asked Jean.

"I mentally commanded his body to remain still. His speed is completely useless if his body is immobile. He's still aware of everything around him."

Uncomfortable with white haired man's stupefied expression Steve chose to look after the team. They checked all of the defeated mutants and made sure they were incapacitated. Vision had disarmed Domino who was struggling against his hold, though to avail.

"Well that was fun," Hawkeye kidded.

"I believe you and I have different definitions of fun, Hawkeye." Beast rubbed his left shoulder. Quicksilver's blow left its mark. The archer shrugged his shoulders and flashed him a half grin.

Cyclops gave his attention to Jean rather than the odd duo. "Can you probe his mind and find out what he knows?"

"I'm already in process of doing that. He doesn't know anything about the attack of the military base last night."

"That means Genosha wasn't a part of Magneto's attack," Captain America said uncertainly. Cyclops disagreed.

"Quicksilver and Magneto have a volatile relationship at best. He doesn't always share his plans with Quicksilver. We should still see Scarlet Witch. Magneto has always confided in her." Cyclops turned back to Jean. "Can you find out Scarlet Witch's location?"

The telepath shook her head. "That's going to be pointless."

"Why is that?" the captain asked. In that instant the jungles were gone. There was nothing, but metal walls and floors. They were no longer alone. The heroes were inside a circle with armed guards outside of the circle. Their weapons were trained on them.

Standing off the side were two women, one dressed in red and other one dressed in green. The red dressed woman had long wavy auburn hair and green eyes. She wore a crimson corset, crimson gloves that reached up to her elbows, crimson boots that reached to her knees, a crimson M shaped head piece that partially covered the sides of her face, and a long crimson majestic cape. Underneath the corset she wore tights that were a light shade of red that was almost pink. The woman dressed green had long straight light green hair, green eyes, and even green lipstick. She wore dark emerald pants with match boots, dark emerald low cut shirt that showed off her well-toned abdomen, emerald M shaped head piece that stopped just short of her cheeks, and a light green cape. They were both attractive, stunning.

"She knows we're here," Jean answered simply.

* * *

**Let me know what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3

Domino's lips curled upward. The tables turned just like that. She really was good luck. "I'd let me go if I were you robot." Against his better judgment Vision let go of the white skinned mutant. Jean maintained her psychic hold on Quicksilver a fact that didn't sit well with Scarlet Witch.

"Let go of my brother." Her tone was even, but words were demanding with a mixture of anger. The X-Woman complied with her wishes. Pietro was in control of his body again.

"We didn't come here for a fight, Wanda," Scott told her.

"You got a funny way of showing it, Summers." Quicksilver glared at visor wearer.

Hawkeye glared at the speedster. "Hey genius, you attacked us first. We were coming here to talk to the Scarlet Witch."

Pietro cast a hard glare on the former Shield agent. "Do you big fancy Avengers make it a habit to crossover the boarders of another country? Or do you just figure since Genosha is a mutant controlled country it doesn't matter?"

"You make it a habit to attack visitors?" Clint shot right back.

"No, but we do attack invaders, which you are," Quicksilver returned. The two men traded glares. Neither one of them was willing to back down.

Testosterone and short tempers was a volatile combination. It was a combination that could erupt into a full blown fight. Beast didn't want to enter a new fight this early. He put himself between the archer and the speedster. "It was not are intentions to come here uninvited. We tried to contact Genosha, numerous times in fact."

"Because we don't respond that gives you the right to invade our home?" The green haired woman asked indignant.

"That is not what I was implying, Lorna. We wanted to go through the proper channels, but we were unable to get ahold of you. We had to come here…."

"I'm sorry, but I fail to see how that doesn't imply you're saying you have the right to invade our home because we failed to respond to your call?"

"Well that does sound contradictory now that I am hearing it." Beast became sheepish.

A soft sigh slipped out of the Scarlet Witch's lips. "Why are you here, Hank?" Her eyes went over all the so called invaders. "Why are the Avengers with you?"

Her whited haired brother snorted loudly. "It's pretty obvious why they're here, Wanda. Uncle Sam sent them here to check up on us to see if we're hiding our beloved father. That's why you're here right, Summers? The X-Men just came here to check on the children of Magnus to see if they're being good," he sneered.

Cyclops wished Quicksilver could see the glare he was giving him behind the visor. "Like I said we didn't come here for a fight. We're here to implore you to let us stay and help search for Magneto."

"See I told you! They're here because your best buddy the president doesn't trust us to look for father."

"We didn't say that!" Cyclops snapped. He hated that he let Quicksilver get under his skin again. There was a mutual dislike almost board a line hatred for each other. Their rivalry was born from their many battles the X-Men and Brotherhood fought. Even after he rejected Magneto nothing between them really changed. The only consolation Scott had was that he drove Quicksilver as nuts he drove Scott nuts.

"You didn't need to." He poked the X leader as hard as he could. The truth was he wanted to get a rise out of Summers. Summers thought he was so perfect. He was Xavier's golden boy and just as stuck up as Professor X. He looked down on him. He was still looking down on him, expecting him to still be the villain. "You're going to tell me the president didn't send you here to spy on us?"

Scott slapped his rival's hand away. "Why don't you back off Quicksilver?"

"You going to make me, Summers," he challenged. The redness light up in Cyclops' visor. He chuckled. This was going be fun.

"Scott," Jean called. "Don't let him suck you in." Scott was level headed, which was one of the reasons the professor made him leader. He could make tactical decisions and when he needed to he could make the hard decisions for the good of the team even if it made him unpopular some of the others. He took it without making a peep. When someone managed to get under his skin he could lash out as out in explosive way. Quicksilver was one of the people who could get under Scott's skin almost effortlessly. The last thing they needed was to start the war they were trying to prevent.

Wanda growled at her brother's actions. He never could let go of rivalry with Scott Summers. Scott was made the leader of the X-Men just as Pietro was made leader of the Brotherhood by Magneto. Continued defeats at the X-Men's hands made Magneto not only lose faith in her brother's leadership abilities but to try to win Scott over to their side and have him replace Pietro as leader. He never really got over that chip on his shoulder. "Stop trying to provoke him. We have bigger concerns than your petty feud with Scott Summers, concerns that don't involve either the X-Men or Avengers." Her tone hardened and became more regal. "The president's concern is noted, but we do not require his assistance and we don't appreciate him sending a team to invade our country. We shall allow you to leave Genosha unharmed this time, but we will not be held responsible for future intrusions."

Scott and Jean protested she silenced them with a gesture. "The X-Men are always welcome in Genosha under normal circumstances, but you cannot simply invade our country for America and tell us what to do. Charles Xavier has no more say on Genosha's affairs than the president does. Now leave please."

"Wanda." Beast attempted to reason with the mistress of the mutant nation. His words fell short on Scarlet Witch. She was impassive. The blue genius sighed in defeat. He looked to the rest of his party for any suggestions. Captain America stepped up literally.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we can't just leave, at least not until you hear us out." The captain made sure to keep his tone respectful. Scarlet Witch was being courteous just as expected of a ruler. She deserved nothing less than that same respect in return. "It is true that the president did ask as to come to here, but he didn't send us to invade Genosha as agents of the government. He requested that we come here as an independent party to lend you a hand. He believes you aren't working with Magneto, but there people who don't share his belief. An emergency meeting of Congress will be held at the end of the week. The president fears they'll vote to invade Genosha. With things the way they are back home he fears it will spark a human-mutant war." Fear took hold of the Scarlet Witch. The regal mask she had worn shattered.

"I understand why you don't want us here. This is your country. You and your people should have the right to run it anyway you see fit. Please believe me when I say that the Avengers and X-Men aren't here to police you for our government. We only want to help to avert a war. Please cooperate with us and in return we'll submit to your command." Anxiety ravaged the Scarlet Witch's face. She wasn't the strong unflinching ruler he saw moments ago. Her defenses were down and exposed the young woman straining to burden the weight of a nation.

Lorna comforted her elder sister. "It's alright, Wanda. Everything will be fine." Her words didn't have the effect Lorna wished. Her sister didn't look convinced.

"We aren't helping Magneto," Scarlet Witch spoke after gathering her thoughts.

Steve knew she was telling him the truth. He looked into her green eyes and saw nothing, but sincerity in them. She pleaded with him to believe her. "I believe you, ma'am." If Tony was here he was sure he would been criticized for trusting the mutant ruler so soon. Steve always put his trust in people first and their actions. What Scarlet Witch did with Genosha proved she was trying to make it a paradise for mutant kind and make peace with the outside world. He owed her the benefit of the doubt.

"Our communication towers were damaged extensively. All communications on and off Genosha have been down for hours."

"Wanda!" exclaimed Quicksilver. "They're outsiders and you're telling them private matters that concern only Genosha."

"You heard what Captain America just said. Magneto's attack on U.S. government has got them scared enough to invade Genosha. Charles Xavier showed us a future where a war between humans and mutants that destroyed both of them. It is now our responsibility to help avert this war and to do that we are going to have to trust them." Pietro still had objections, but didn't vocalize them. She was grateful for that. Wanda was the ruler of Genosha and Pietro did his best not to undermine her authority by constantly questioning her orders. Whatever objections he might have had of her leading Genosha in their father's place he kept them quiet to keep everyone in Genosha unified.

"That is why you didn't respond to our calls then," Hank stated obvious.

"But the president said he did actually talk to you today," Hawkeye pointed out.

"I did talk to him earlier, but that was before the communication towers were damaged. Actually not long after that transmission the towers were wrecked. Without communications we are forced to use Scanner's power to relay communications for the whole island. She's been a great help, but she is still only one person trying to manage communications of an entire island."

"I don't know. Scanner was passing messages back and forth and still found intruders. I would say she deserves a bonus," Quicksilver joked. It earned him an elbow in the side from Lorna.

"Without communications it is taking more time than it should to search the island for any signs of Magneto," Wanda continued.

"The tower's destruction happened while our father's latest plot is in action. It makes us think he's involved in it, but we haven't found any sign of him on the island," Lorna explained.

Scarlet Witch huffed. "Of course it's no coincidence. Magneto is behind this," she said bitterly.

Vision found Scarlet Witch's word choice interesting. Every time the Scarlet Witch mentioned Magneto she did so by name, not as father. What was more curious is that her siblings referred to the man as their father. Families held great importance to humans. The Scarlet Witch was dismissive of the notion. It puzzled him as to why she was. If he was reading the emotions right there seemed to be resent there.

"Do you think Magneto had a personal hand in the tower's destruction?" Jean asked.

Lorna shook her head. "There was no sign of magnetism. Believe me I would know if there was."

"Are you expert on magnetism?" Vision asked innocently. A mischievous yet still bashful smirk formed on the green haired woman's face.

"You could say something like that." By twirling her wrist the robotic Avenger was hovering above them all. Their intruders turned guests had different range of reactions. The archer was amused, while Captain America looked troubled at his friend's predicament. Lorna wanted to laugh until she witnessed the disapproving look her elder sister was giving her. Recognizing that look Lorna put the robot down. "I share my father's power of magnetism," she said a little above a whisper. Wanda didn't take her eyes of her for what felt like forever.

Lorna was sufficiently shamed into acting her age Wanda tore her eyes away from her. Unknown to her Lorna let her breath go. "The tower was blown up. We aren't sure if explosives were set or if it was a mutant power, but one thing is certain. The only way for someone to have gotten close enough to the tower to set an explosive device is if they lived on the island."

"You're saying that you have a traitor in your number." Cap followed her line of thinking. It wouldn't be outrageous to think there were people on Genosha who were still loyal to the previous ruler.

The ruler Genosha took a deep breath then exhaled. "There are people who harbor hatred for humanity in general over how they were treated, especially the ones that were originally enslaved by the government before Magneto's reign. It wouldn't take them too much prodding to get them to help Magneto. Trying to find someone who would willingly help sabotage the rest of Genosha is difficult."

"Do you have any suspects?" Cyclops questioned.

"There are a few names that come to mind, but we've been so busy with searching that we haven't had enough time for an investigation," she answered.

Knowing glances were shared among the heroes. They each had the same idea. It was Captain America who expressed their idea aloud. "We can lend you hand in that, ma'am. We just need you to take us to the tower." She was contemplating his offer carefully. The thought of taking intruders or invaders as her brother called them to one of their essential places wasn't a favorable one. Cap hoped she had really heard what he said. They weren't enemies. It would be better to ally themselves than to work against each other.

The inner deliberation she had with herself ended when cleared her throat. "Quicksilver and I will take you to the communication tower. Polaris you stay in the citadel with Scanner and Blink to coordinate the search parties. Domino you take command of the guard in Quicksilver's absence." The rest of the former Brotherhood started stirring. They took their fair share of lumps today, but they were in a state of emergency. She couldn't relief them. She ordered them to go to infirmary first before going back on patrol.

Lorna tried to take her to side to talk. The deer caught in headlights expression told Wanda everything she needed to know. "Don't be nervous. You've had practice of being in command before."

"That's day to day business. We're in a state of emergency. People will want you in command, directing the search parties. They are going to want the great Scarlet Witch not her kid sister who Magneto kept out of the loop."

Wanda was familiar with that downcast face. Magneto found Lorna earlier in her life than he did her and Pietro and as a result he treated her as a princess. He kept her from the inner workings of Genosha. He kept her ignorant. That made it hard for people to take her seriously. Lorna was more capable than most, including herself realized. She knew Magneto's more shred actions when they all were charged to keep them from her. When Wanda became ruler Lorna took a more active role in their country. Lorna still had to fight the stigma of being the clueless royal. "They're going to get you. Show them what Polaris can do." Lorna's mood brightened somewhat. While they didn't grow up together she could still cheer her little sister up. A fleeting gaze she left the mistress of magnetism fly on her own. She and Pietro joined the party of heroes.

* * *

Was he making a mistake? Piotr asked himself that question over and over again since they came back. He had reservations about attacking the military base to begin with, but Magneto reasoned that they needed the weapons and it made a statement. That was the reason he was here right. He wanted something different from Professor Xavier's method. He wanted to see results now not twenty years from now. He needed results now. All his years fighting as an X-Man and the world felt no different than it was a decade ago. Things had gotten better for mutants in last few years, but all it took was one story on a mutant to misuse their powers and the whole world turned against them in a heartbeat. He was just sick of fighting for people who would turn on him after he saved them.

He was tired of giving up so much and getting so little in return. Piotr knew he was being selfish, but did he have to give up her as well? Part of the reason he fought was to make a better world for her. In the end he had to give up even her just to keep the status quo the same. No, that wasn't right. He was sick of this world. There had to be a better way. There just had to be a better way. That's why he was here. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They weren't supposed to mindlessly slaughter innocent people. Every last person on that base was killed. His allies showed no mercy or remorse. How could they have been so willing to disregard life so easily? Did he have a place among such people?

"Are you still sulking, Colossus?" A scruffy blond haired man walked up. He wore a board smile that showed off all his pearly whites. Eyes were hidden behind orange lensed visor. On his back rested a yellow flamethrower. His costume was also flame based, red was the dominate color, but sleeves were orange and in a flame like pattern. The forearms were covered by thick yellow armor meant to house the hose connected to flamethrower.

Piotr groaned inwardly. Pyro had a knack for getting under people's skin. He was in no mood to entertain him.

"Hello? Big guy? Come on you're going to ignore me?" Pyro chuckled, but said nothing else. Piotr took it as a sign that he gotten bored and left. He felt a hard smack on his shoulder. It looked like he would have no such luck. "Nobody likes a brooder. A grown man brooding like some hapless teenage boy frankly looks ridiculous. I don't understand why you are sitting around, shoulders all slumped down, and looking like you just shot your dog or something."

"Do you ever stop talking?" Piotr snapped. Damn Pyro. That grin widened even more. He didn't know it could get any bigger.

"Anger is a lot better than brooding. Why are you even sulking? The mission was successful and we got a lot of fun out of it."

He shoved Pyro off of him, catching the flame manipulator by surprise. "How can you say that was fun? You killed those people."

Pyro shrugged it off. "It was fun. Seeing some of those soldiers jump up and down as they were getting incinerated was pretty damn hilarious." His words didn't lighten Colossus as he hoped. The look the big guy was giving him could kill. "It's a war. There is going to be casualties."

"This isn't a war!" The words came out harsher than he wanted. "Once we got what we wanted we should have left, not raze the entire base."

"That's where you are wrong, Colossus." Cortez of all people appeared. Piotr thought he would still be in conference with Magneto. "This is a war. You're letting that fool Xavier cloud your mind with his naïve teachings. I would have expected you of all people to realize there is no co-existence with the humans. We must rise above those under developed apes if we are ever to have peace. We must fight and keep fighting until the war ends with mutants as the undisputed victors."

"I thought we were doing all of this to avoid a war. The missiles are supposed to be a last resort." Cortez looked at him with contempt yet a strange sense of pity mixed in there with. Piotr was unsure if he should be offended or concerned.

"The Great Magneto plans to use them as a last resort, but make no mistake when he reveals his glorious vision the humans will not tolerate it. They will be the first ones to draw blood. We shall have to crush them as the ants they are."

"If everything goes according to plan we won't have to fight them at all," Piotr reminded. There was no pity in the glare Cortez was giving him now. Before he heard in rebuttal a ringing went off. Cortez brought out oval shaped device that Piotr recognized at a communication device.

"What is it?" Cortez's voice made it clear that whoever contacted him had better had something important to tell.

"We have a problem," a smooth and seething voice spoke. "The Avengers and the X-Men are on Genosha."

"Avengers and the X-Men!" exclaimed Cortez. Piotr and Pyro were also stunned by this news. He expected his old team to get involved, but not the team deemed Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

"Scarlet Witch is leading them to the communication tower to search for clues. If they find anything it could lead them there. What are your orders?" the voice asked.

"You are still at the tower?" The voice said yes. "If it looks like they find anything that could lead them here I want you to attack them. I hate to lose a spy in Genosha, however too much is riding on this."

"Understood," the voice said. The transmission ended.

"Shouldn't you have told Magneto the situation first before giving orders?" Piotr shot the second in command a questioning look.

"Magneto is far too occupied with next phase of the plan to deal with a minor inconvenience. He entrusts me to deal with them. I will inform the master of what is happening. Magneto trusts me so should you Colossus." He turned his back to them and went off. Cortez was overstepping his boundaries. This wasn't the first time he acted on his own without informing Magneto first. The way the man spoke made Piotr feel as if he had to act carefully for fear of being bitten. Cortez was someone he wouldn't turn his back on.

* * *

Pietro insisted on taking the lead and acting as her protector. He wasn't even the older of the twins yet always took it upon himself to take care of her. Years of experience taught her it was best not to waste energy arguing over something so minor. She stayed back and watched her brother have sparring of words with Scott Summers. Jean had the same idea and walked beside her. Both Captain America and Hank McCoy walked a little behind the rivals and ahead of her. Hawkeye and the robotic one that she learned was named Vision were behind them.

"The tower isn't far from the citadel. There was no need for Blink to teleport us there."

"I don't mind a little walk," Jean said.

"That's good otherwise I would fear for the future of the X-Men." Wanda smiled brightly. The Marvel Girl's sense of humor was good. She smiled back at her.

"Don't forget who used to beat the Brotherhood regularly," Jean teased right back.

"We won our fair share of those battles," Wanda defended weakly. When Jean stared at her she fell apart. "So maybe the X-Men had more wins than we did, but it was before we mastered our powers." The coy grin plastered on the telepath's face told her that Jean didn't believe her weak excuse. They chatted away, oblivious to the leer filled gaze of Hawkeye.

The sarcastic archer took in the sights. There were worse sights to behold. One of the best of things about superhero-super villain community was they usually wore tight fitting costumes. Checking out a telepath wasn't the smartest move, so he kept his eye on the Scarlet Witch. The cape concealed her form when it swished he could make out her well-formed backside. "What a vision."

"Did you call me?" Vision responded to him, making Clint kick himself for saying that out loud.

"Uh, I was just saying what a vision around us. You know all this nature." God that sounded horrible in his mind. There was no way Vision bought it. The synthezoid's gaze remained on him. He was busted. It was better to come clean. "I was admiring the female beauty." He hoped Vision got that meaning without him needing to explain further.

Following where his eyes were it was easy to deduce that Hawkeye was observing the two women. Vision recalled incidents of Iron Man and Hawkeye admiring the female form when he was in their presence. Often times they were unaware that he noticed. Other times they would explain to him that they admired the female form. Wasp told him that was code for what she called checking out girls. She explained not all women appreciated that type of attention. "Is that appropriate?"

"There is nothing wrong with looking. You just don't touch without permission."

"Generally girls don't like to be ogled at." Jean Grey's voice startled Hawkeye enough to make his heartbeat skip. The telepath looked back at them. The archer tried flashing a charming smile that faltered. "You know I could hear your thoughts right? Next time don't think so loudly."

"I'll keep that in mind for future reference."

"Why don't you come up here, so you're not distracted?" Jean ushered him ahead of her. Hawkeye was dejected. Jean found it amusing. Scarlet Witch fell back with him for some reason.

"Vision was it?"

"Yes, that is my name," he replied politely.

"I wanted to apologize for Lorna demonstrating her powers on you."

"There was no harm done to my body. There is no need to apologize."

Scarlet Witch furrowed her brow. He thought perhaps he had offended her. "Still it is not right to use her powers on you without your consent. Misusing our mutant abilities is stressed on Genosha. What might be playful to one person could be seen as assault by another person."

"This philosophy is important to you?"

"It is. Mutants abilities shouldn't be suppressed, but that does not mean they should be used on other people freely either. If humans don't want mutants to abuse them they shouldn't treat them as monsters. If mutants don't want humans to harm them they shouldn't abuse them with their powers for personal amusement. It goes both ways."

Her logic was sound, but there was more to it. He could hear conviction tied to her words. It was the same conviction that Captain America had when he fought for the other Avengers against synthezoid Avengers, Ultron, and himself on his own. It was the human spirit that the captain had mentioned and endeared Vision to the human race. It was the human spirit that burned within the Scarlet Witch. There was much to this woman than what appeared at first. "These are the principles you've instilled into Genosha?"

"Yes it is."

"Your beliefs contrast your father's." He heard her laugh. Her face scrunched up into rather menacing expression that caught Vision by surprise. "I am sorry if what I said angered you."

The menacing expression evaporated. "No, you didn't offend me. I am proud to hear that my beliefs are different from his. Magneto's so convinced that a war will happen that he fails to see his actions bring that war closer into reality. He believes mutants are superior and will stop at nothing until humans are crushed under his heel. He's wrong. Humans and mutants can co-exist side by side. There doesn't need to be a war at all."

"I can empathize." The words came out his mouth before he realized it. He had the woman's attention. He decided to continue speaking. "My creator also had a low opinion of human race and was determined to destroy it to replace it with synthezoids. He failed to see that while humans are flawed they also have admirable qualities. He created me to be his perfect vision of the future. His vision was a world without biological life, while I believe a true perfect vision of the future will include all forms of life. That is why I joined the Avengers. I want to help protect life to help make that vision a reality"

"It would seem we have something in common, Vision."

"It would appear that we do, Scarlet Witch."

Life was strange. She found herself to have more in common with this android than say her brother. Pietro was always there to lend a hand or give her an ear to listen to, but at times he couldn't relate to her. While he turned against his father as she and Lorna did after the Sentinel incident he still didn't believe in co-existence between humans and mutants. He worked to keep Genosha safe and free for all mutants, but didn't see the need for trying to bring about co-existence. Vision understood where she was coming from. How strange it was for her to find a kindred spirit with him.

"Here we are." She heard her brother say. They were already there and she didn't realize it. The once proud tower that extended to the heavens was nothing more than disassembled wreck with scattered parts and pieces all over the land. The base of the tower was intact, but it had lost more than half its height in the explosion. It was a shadow of what it once was. Guarding the base of the tower was Senyaka, a man who shrouded from head to toe in dark and red robes. To his right there was the man beast like Spoor.

"Mistress," they said in unison. They bowed to their ruler. Neither one of them questioned her about the appearance of the X-Men and Avengers.

"Have you found anything in the wreckage that could help identify are bomber?" she questioned them. They didn't give her the response she hoped for.

Steve looked to the newest Avenger. "Vision, you think your scanners could give us some answers?"

Vision activated his scanners and surveyed the wreckage. "My analysis should be completed in five minutes," he announced.

"While Vision scans the area we should search for physical evidence the old fashion way," Steve spoke to the rest of the group.

"Why do it the old fashion way when I can do it in a flash?" Quicksilver became a blur. He easily used his super human speed blow past the entire group. Too fast for the human eye to capture the former Brotherhood member searched the half destroyed tower and returned before anyone could blink. The white haired man wore look that begged anyone to challenge his greatness. In his right hand was a handheld remote device. He careless tossed it the remote to the super soldier. "I think this is what you were looking for, old man. 5 minutes was too long for me to wait for the tin man."

Quicksilver was as arrogant as Tony was on his worst day. Steve had to admit that the kid did a good job. He passed it to Vision. "Quicksilver made your job easier."

"I concur." Scanning the device only took seconds as oppose to the minutes it would have taken to scan the entire area. He got the type of explosive device the remote was for. That they eliminated the possibility of the explosion being a mutant ability he could easily track residue. "I am able to detect the residue from the explosion. The residue is most likely on the culprit who set the explosive. We can follow the residue to….Aaaaahhhhh!" A surge of electricity coursed through his whole body overwhelming his sensors and circuits. The synthezoid felt consciousness fading. He fell to the ground to shock of the heroes and former villains.

Before they could digest Vision's fall their ears were filled with the screams of Quicksilver. His body quaked before he too fell. Standing behind the son of Magneto was Senyaka with a whip created from pure energy in his hand a downed Spoor.

No one was as shocked as Wanda was. She couldn't believe her eyes. Senyaka was one of Genosha's most devoted followers. "How can you betray us?"

"Forgive me mistress. I have pledged my services to you, but I owe your father my life." He thrust the whip at her. Scarlet Witch evaded it.

"Bad move." Hawkeye fired an arrow. The whip slashed through the arrow in mid-air. Senyaka retaliated with a lash. Hawkeye was mounted a defense by using his bow to take the lash. Unfortunately for him Senyaka charged electrical energy into the bow through his whip. He suffered from a bad shock.

Cyclops shot his optic blast. The traitor's reflexes proved keen. He easily dodged the blast. Senyaka ensnared the unconscious Spoor in his whip and with strength that surpassed his physique he tossed him at the X leader. Cyclops was forced to fall to the ground to avoid the body hurled at him. Senyaka stayed around to see it. He fled. "After him!" screamed Cyclops.

"Be careful not to let him touch you," Wanda warned. "His mutant power allows him to drain the bio-electric essence of anyone to increase his own physical abilities and use that energy to create his whip."

"We just don't have to let him touch us," Steve said as if it was simplest thing in the world. He took chase with Cyclops and Beast. Jean and Wanda made sure that downed heroes were doing well.

"I'll watch them." Jean assured the ruler of Genosha. "You go after him." She wanted to go with the others she could sense the betrayal and anger boiling within Wanda getting ready to burst. She knew from personal experience that anger was best directed at enemy. The shift in Wanda from worried sister to determined avenger was sudden. For a second Jean pitted Senyaka.

* * *

Captain America's back was slammed into ground by the annoying bio whip. They outnumbered him three to one it was difficult for them to touch Senyaka thanks to that damn whip of his. Cyclops was their best chance of touching him, but Senyaka proved to be agile. Optic blasts missed their target. When Steve tried throwing his shield it was slapped away from its target. With no defense Steve was hit by the whip and shocked before getting slammed to the ground.

Beast stampeded straight at the Senyaka in a direct path. Senyaka was baffled at why the X-Man would stupidly rush at him. He left himself right open for attack. He struck his whip only for a red blast to knock it away. He looked off to see the crouching form of Cyclops station behind Beast. Senyaka understood the reason for the Beast's boldness. Beast was upon him. He lifted the dark robbed man above his head and threw him as hard as he could into the ground.

"Is he down?" Scott threw the question to Hank. A blood curling roar from the blue X-Man gave him his answer. "Hank!" He watched his old friend fall to his knees while Senyaka rose unblemished and unwounded.

"Nice try," Senyaka taunted.

This was nearly impossible. Senyaka could absorb bio electrical essence to increase his durability. Any normal man thrown by Hank with that much force would probably lucky to still be alive. Captain America at least got back to his feet with his shield back in his hands. "We can't hold back. He absorbed essence of both Quicksilver and Beast he won't go down easily."

"Do you think you can keep his whip away from me?" Steve asked.

"I don't know. It worked with Hank, but he hadn't been expecting it. Now he'll watch out for it. We need something else to surprise him."

"Leave this to me."

The two leaders saw Scarlet Witch arrive. Her arrival ushered in a storm of tranquil fury. Both men could see within her emerald eyes. Her hands were engulfed in bright red light. She calmly walked past the two men without so much as sparing them a look. Her entire focus was on Senyaka. He flung the whip at her almost hastily. He didn't want her get near him. Senyaka still possessed enough sense to realize what he was up against.

Wanda hurled a hex bolt to the ground. The earth sprang up before her. It acted as a wall, shielding her from the whip. She threw another hex blowing the pillar of earth to bits. Senyaka had created a second whip in his left hand. He lashed it at her still not realizing the futility of his actions. Wanda continued walking down the path only hurling her hexes at the ground he stood upon. She watched with a smirk as the ground gave away Senyaka nearly fell. This threw his aim off and the whip hit the ground to her right.

It was amusing to see the traitor dangling now was not the time to torture him. He destroyed a tower, put her people in danger, and helped that man destroy everything they had been working for. He would suffer her wrath. Scarlet Witch threw hexes on his whips and watched them wrap themselves around him. Another hex made the whips pump full of the stolen bio electricity. His screams were music to her ears. She wasn't merciful today, not for one who betrayed all of her country. The distance between them was small that she could reach out and touch him.

"You should have known better than to anger me. You have forgotten just how terrible I can really be." She slammed a final hex his chest. He betrayed her, so she made his power betray him. The bio electricity zapped his body before leaving him to return to their rightful owners. Senyaka collapsed his body battered, spirit drained, and his mind blank. He still clung to consciousness. He desperately tried to reach out for what she didn't know. She would give him something for his troubles. Her boot slammed against his face. He lost consciousness this time.

Steve was stunned by the display of power he had witnessed. Words failed him.

Scott couldn't blame the captain for being left shocked. He had seen Wanda's powers numerous times and even he was amazed by what she could do at times. She changed from the girl who could barely control the bad luck she threw at others way. "Wanda's mutant ability is to manipulate probability with hex bolts. She can make the least likely thing happen. When her powers are really unleashed it can be something."

"She sure is." It was the only thing Steve could think to say. Beast recovered remarkably fast. He suspected it Scarlet Witch had something to do with that. They carried the unconscious Senyaka back to the tower. Their friends were recovering or recovered. Clint was nursing his head. Quicksilver and Vision seem to be up and running. Jean hovered over them still unsure if they were really in good shape.

Senyaka was careless dropped by a still unforgiving Beast. "What happened to robes?" Jean asked.

"Wanda," Scott replied. That satisfied Jean's questions. She didn't ask any for any more information on Senyaka's condition.

"Do you think you can look through his head?" Steve asked.

Jean expected their unwilling subject. "Let's find out," she said. Her psychic probing began. Beast informed him that it would take Jean time to pluck out information. He used the time to make sure his teammates were fine.

"Vision, Hawkeye, are you two doing well?"

"As soon as the ringing stops I'll let you know." Clint's head was still killing him. He needed some aspirin.

"I rebooted not long after you left. The electrical surge caught me by surprise, but it was not enough to cause any permanent damage."

"The robot is fine," Quicksilver groaned. His sister was by his side ready to help him should he need anything. "It's not like it matters though. If he gets toasted you can just make a new one."

"Stow that talk. Vision is not just some disposable toy," Captain America snarled with uncharacteristic edge to his voice.

"He's a robot. You can't possible think he's a person," Quicksilver argued.

"Pietro," Scarlet Witch chastised.

"What it's true."

The super soldier was livid. How dare he belittle Vision's life as nothing more than a broken device? He was much more than that. Vision had a heart. He wouldn't stand for anyone who belittled that. He was about open his mouth Jean Grey's voice cut in.

"I know where Magneto is," she said.


End file.
